Tidbits of History, July 8

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July 8 is :
Video Games Day
International Town Crier’s Day
National Milk Chocolate with Almonds Day

1663 – Charles II of England granted a Royal charter to Rhode Island to John Clarke.

NYC authorized first police uniforms in American colonies on July 8, 1693.

1775 – The Olive Branch Petition was signed by the Continental Congress of the Thirteen Colonies. The petition affirmed American loyalty to Great Britain and entreated the king to prevent further conflict.

US State Dept issued 1st American passport on July 8, 1796.

From Today in Science
In 1881, a patron came into Edward Berner’s drug store in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, and sat down at the soda-fountain counter. Since it was the Sabbath, the customer couldn’t have the desirable, but scandalous, flavored soda water. Berner compromised by putting ice cream in a dish and poured over it the chocolate syrup that was previously only served as flavoring in ice-cream sodas. That was an ice cream Sunday! The name became “sundae”, after the day on which Berner served it.

The first issue of The Wall Street Journal was published in 1889.

From Today in Science
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Born 8 Jul 1926; died 24 Aug 2004 at age 78.
Swiss-American psychiatrist who was a leading authority on the psychology of dying. She is best-known for twelve books, beginning with On Death and Dying (1969), in which she proposed that the terminally ill go through five stages in their attitude. These are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and, perhaps, acceptance. The book offers strategies for caregivers. The work grew from a seminar she founded at the Billings Hospital of the University of Chicago where dying patients talked about their thoughts upon the approach of death. The best-selling success of the book led her into a career of clinical practice to the treatment of dying patients of all ages. Her lectures changed institutional attitudes towards the terminally ill.

1960 – Francis Gary Powers was charged with espionage resulting from his flight over the Soviet Union.

Saddam Hussein1982 – Assassination attempt against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. The Dujail Massacre refers to the events following this assassination attempt. More than 140 people were sentenced and executed for their alleged involvement in the plot including four people who were mistakenly killed during the executions. Hundreds more were sent into exile and their houses, farms and properties were demolished. The executions in Dujail were the primary charges for which Saddam Hussein was hanged on 30 December 2006.

Tidbits of History, July 7

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July 7 is the 189th day of 2020.

Chocolate Day – In 1550, Europe introduced the first chocolate.
National Strawberry Sundae Day
National Macaroni Day

On July 7, 1456, a retrial verdict acquitted Joan of Arc of heresy. Unfortunately, this was 25 years after her death.

Mexican–American War: American troops occupied Monterey and Yerba Buena (now called San Francisco) on July 7, 1846, thus beginning the U.S. acquisition of California.

From Today in Science
Nettie Maria Stevens born 7 July 1861
American geneticist who was born in the year that the Civil War began, and despite difficult times and limited women’s educational opportunities, became one of the first American women to achieve recognition for her contributions to scientific research. As a cell biologist and geneticist, her great contribution to science was as one of the first scientists to find that sex is determined by a single difference between two classes of sperm – the presence or absence of an X chromosome.

United States begins its first military draft in 1863; exemptions cost $300.

Execution by hanging of Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold, and George Atzerodt on July 7, 1865, at Fort McNair in Washington City; they had been convicted of conspiracy in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

1907 – Birth of Robert A. Heinlein, American science fiction writer (d. 1988); author of “Stranger in a Strange Land”, “Starship Troopers”, etc.
A couple of quotes:

Reason is poor propaganda when opposed by the yammering, unceasing lies of shrewd and evil and self-serving men.
My old man claimed that the more complicated the law the more opportunity for scoundrels.
Specialization is for insects.
Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.
Progress isn’t made by early risers. It’s made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle died on July 7, 1930 at age 71 (born 22 May 1859). Scottish author and physician whose fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, emulates the scientist, diligently searching through data and to make sense of it. “It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts.” Later in life Doyle was a spiritualist.

The Roswell incident, the (supposed) crash of an alien spaceship near Roswell in New Mexico on July 7, 1947.

Elvis Presley made his radio debut in 1954 when WHBQ Memphis played his first recording for Sun Records, “That’s All Right.”

Sandra Day O'Connor, July 71981 –U.S. President Ronald Reagan appointed Sandra Day O’Connor to become the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate with a vote of 99–0.

Tidbits of History, July 6

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July 6 is the 188th day of the year.

International Kissing Day
National Fried Chicken Day

1535 – Sir Thomas More was executed for treason against King Henry VIII of England.

Birthday of John Paul Jones (July 6, 1747), American naval office of the Revolutionary period and founder of the American Navy.

1785 – The dollar was unanimously chosen as the monetary unit for the United States.

Mexican-American War ended with the Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo on July 6, 1848

From: Today in Science
In 1885, French scientist Louis Pasteur and his colleagues injected the first of 14 daily doses of rabbit spinal cord suspensions containing progressively inactivated rabies virus into 9-year-old Joseph Meister, who had been severely bitten by a rabid dog 2 days before. The immunization was successful. This was the beginning of the modern era of immunization, which had been presaged by Edward Jenner nearly 100 years earlier. Pasteur’s rabies immunization procedure was rapidly adopted throughout the world. The boy grew up and became caretaker of the Pasteur Institute.

Horlick’s of Wisconsin offered the first malted milk to the public on July 6, 1886. It was patented as an artificial infant food.

In 1887 – David Kalakaua, monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii, was forced at gunpoint by Americans to sign the Bayonet Constitution giving Americans more power in Hawaii while stripping Hawaiian citizens of their rights.

Nancy Reagan, born July 6, 1921Birthday of Nancy Reagan (July 6, 1921), wife of Ronald Reagan; first lady 1981-1989

The first Major League Baseball All-Star Game was played in Chicago’s Comiskey Park in 1933. The American League defeated the National League 4–2.

George W Bush, born July 6, 1946Birthday of George W Bush (July 6, 1946), 43rd president of the United States.

AK-47 produced July 6, 1947The AK-47 went into production in the Soviet Union in 1947.

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Tidbits of History, July 5

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July 5 is the 187th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 179 days remaining until the end of the year.

Work-a-holics Day
National Apple Turnover Day

Birthday of Jonathan Carter Hornblower (July 5, 1753), English mining engineer who invented the first compound steam engine for which he claimed better efficiency, using two cylinders of unequal size attached to the same beam.

author of Federalist PaperPublication of Federalist Paper #83: The Judiciary in Relation to Trial by Jury written by Alexander Hamilton in 1788.

Birthday of Phineas Taylor (P.T.) Barnum (July 5, 1810), American museum administrator and circus owner. He is remembered for his showmanship. He began as proprietor of the American Museum in New York City, which included not just freak shows, but also serious scientific exhibits, for which he actively collected natural history specimens.
See 10 things you may not know about P. T. Barnum from History.com.

In 1865, a lower speed limit – of 2 mph in town and 4 mph in the country – was imposed in Britain under the Locomotives and Highways Act. The “Red Flag” Act also required three drivers for each vehicle – two on the vehicle and one to walk ahead carrying a red flag. It was repealed in 1896, after nearly two decades of strong support from horse interests. The repeal of the act was celebrated by a 60 mile car run from London to Brighton – at the new and previously illegal speed of 12 mph.

Spam, the luncheon meat, was introduced into the market by the Hormel Foods Corporation on July 5, 1937. The word “spam” referring to unsolicited electronic bulk messages comes from a 1970 sketch of the BBC television comedy series” Monty Python’s Flying Circus”. The sketch is set in a cafe where nearly every item on the menu includes Spam canned luncheon meat.

First bikini bathing suit displayed (Paris) in 1946.

1971 – The Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18 years, is formally certified by President Richard Nixon. It was proposed by Congress on March 23, 1971, and ratified on July 1, 1971 by North Carolina, the 38th state to do so, the quickest ratification of an amendment in history. It has since been ratified by an additional 5 states. No action has been taken on the amendment by the states of Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, or Utah.

In 1996, Dolly, a cloned sheep, was born at the Roslin Institute, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Tidbits of History, July 4

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July 4, Independence Day, the birthday of the United States, celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

National Country Music Day
Sidewalk Egg Frying Day
National Barbecued Spareribs Day
Caesar Salad Day

July 4, 1803, the Louisiana Purchase was announced to the American people.

Birthday of Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1804. American novelist who wrote “The Scarlet Letter” and the “House of Seven Gables”.

Birthday of Stephen Collins Foster in 1826. American composer remembered for writing “Oh! Susanna”, “Old Folks at Home”, and “Beautiful Dreamer” along with others.

July 4, 1826: US Presidents John Adams , second President of the United States, and Thomas Jefferson , third President of the United States, died on the same day. Adams was 90 years old; Jefferson was 83.

July 4, 1831, death of James Monroe , fifth President of the United States. He died in New York City at age 73 from heart failure and tuberculosis.

“America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee)” is first sung in Boston on this day in 1832. There are eight different verses to the song.

My country, ’tis of Thee,
Sweet Land of Liberty
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims’ pride,
From every mountain side
Let Freedom ring.

The melody is the same as “God Save the Queen” or “God Save the King”, national anthem of Great Britain:

God save our gracious Queen
Long live our noble Queen
God save The Queen!
Send her victorious
Happy and glorious
Long to reign over us
God save The Queen!

January 5, Coolidge diedBirthday of Calvin Coolidge in 1872; 30th president of the United States.

Katherine Lee Bates published “America the Beautiful” in 1895.

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

49 star flag, July 4, 1959July 4, 1959- America’s new 49-star flag honoring Alaska statehood unfurled. (7 rows of 7 stars)

July 4, 1960July 4, 1960, America’s new 50-star flag honoring Hawaiian statehood unfurled.( 5 rows of 6 stars plus 4 rows of 5 stars)

Preamble to the Constitution:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

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Tidbits of History, July 3

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July 3 is:
Compliment Your Mirror Day
Disobedience Day
Stay out of the Sun Day
National Chocolate Wafer Day
Eat Beans Day

July 3, 1608, Québec City was founded by Samuel de Champlain.

1775 – American Revolutionary War: George Washington took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In 1806, Michael Keens, a market gardener of Isleworth near London, exhibited the first cultivated strawberry that combined size, flavor, and color at the Royal Horticultural Society. The 600 strawberry varieties found today stem from five or six original wild species, and are a member of the rose family. The wild, small, fragrant forest strawberry of Europe was available to the Romans in the Middle Ages. Europeans discovered wild strawberries in Virginia when their ships landed there in 1588, grown by local American Indians. When Virginia sent a better flavored strawberry to England in 1642, and a large white strawberry from Chile was introduced in 1806, the big fruit we know today, emerged. Strawberries are unique, because they are the only fruit with seeds on the outside.

Great Auk extinct, July 3, 1844July 3 – 1844: The Great Auk becomes extinct, after the last group was killed in Iceland.

Idaho header Idaho Admission Day in 1890 as the forty-third state

  • Capital: Boise
  • Nickname: Gem state
  • Bird: Mountain bluebird
  • Flower: Syringa (mock orange)
  • Tree: Western white pine
  • Motto: It is forever

See our page Idaho for more interesting facts and trivia about Idaho.

In 1929, foam rubber was developed at the Dunlop Latex Development Laboratories in Birmingham. British scientist E.A. Murphy whipped up the first batch in 1929, using an ordinary kitchen mixer to froth natural latex rubber. His colleagues were unimpressed – until they sat on it. Within five years it was everywhere, on motorcycle seats, on London bus seats, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre seats, and eventually in mattresses.

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Tidbits of History, July 2

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July 2 is:
I Forgot Day
World UFO Day
National Anisette Day

1776 – The Continental Congress adopted a resolution which severed ties with the Kingdom of Great Britain although the wording of the formal Declaration of Independence was not approved until July 4.

author of Federalist PaperPublication of Federalist Paper #82: The Judiciary written by Alexander Hamilton in 1788.

July 2, 1881July 2, 1881: Charles J. Guiteau shot and fatally wounded U.S. President James Garfield at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C. Garfield eventually died from an infection on September 19.

Guiteau had written a speech in support of Ulysses S Grant prior to the election of 1880. He changed “Grant” to “Garfield” after Garfield secured the nomination. For this speech, which he believed had helped Garfield’s election, he believed he was entitled to a consulship to Vienna but was willing to settle for Paris. He warned several Washington officials that they would come to grief if his demands were not met.

Guiteau’s family had judged him to be insane and had attempted to have him committed but Gaiteau had escaped. He purchased a .442 Webley caliber British Bulldog revolver for $15.00 (which he had borrowed). He followed Garfield around Washington for a whole month before shooting the President. While awaiting trial, Guiteau began making plans for a lecture tour and considered running for president in 1884. He was found guilty in January of 1882 and was hanged June 30, 1882.

In 1922, the first modern U.S. carillon, (a series of chromatic bells) installed in the Church of Our Lady of Good Voyage, Gloucester, Mass., was blessed by Cardinal O’Connell. Our Lady of Good Voyage Church, with its brilliant blue domes, was modeled after the Santa Maria Madelena church, Pico, Azores. Inside, there are more than twenty-five ship models and stained glass and statuary depictions of Our Lady. The church includes one of the oldest sets of full carillon bells in the United States.

Amelia EarhartJuly 2, 1937: American aviation pioneer, Amelia Earhart, disappeared in the Central Pacific during an attempt to fly around the world at the equator.

1956 – Elvis Presley recorded “Hound Dog” & “Don’t Be Cruel”.

1962 – The first Wal-Mart store opened for business in Rogers, Arkansas.

1964 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, meant to prohibit segregation in public places.

Tidbits of History, July 1

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July 1st is the 183rd day of the year…midpoint…there are 183 days left.

July 1 is also:
Creative Ice Cream Flavors Day
International Joke Day (not “Tell a Joke Day” which is on August 16th)
National Gingersnap Day

Political map of CanadaDominion Day, now called Canada Day, a national holiday commemorating the Confederation of the provinces of Canada into the Dominion of Canada under the terms of the British North America Act of 1867. Sir John A. Macdonald was sworn in as the first Prime Minister of Canada.

July 1, 1766 – Jean-François Lefebvre de la Barre was a young French nobleman. He became famous for having been tortured and beheaded before his body was burnt on a pyre along with a copy of Voltaire’s “Philosophical Dictionary” nailed to his torso for his crime of not saluting a Roman Catholic religious procession in Abbeville, France.

July 1, 1862, Internal Revenue Law imposed first federal taxes on inheritance, tobacco and on incomes over $600 (progressive rate)

Polygamy

Congress outlawed polygamy by passing the Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act in 1862. Lincoln gave Brigham Young tacit permission to ignore the Morrill Act in exchange for not becoming involved with the Civil War. General Patrick Edward Connor, commanding officer of the federal forces garrisoned at Fort Douglas, Utah beginning in 1862, was explicitly instructed not to confront the Mormons over this or any other issue.

The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act was amended in 1882 by the Edmunds Act, a United States federal statute, signed into law on March 23, 1882 by president Chester A. Arthur, declaring polygamy a felony. The Edmunds Act also prohibited “bigamous” or “unlawful cohabitation” (a misdemeanor), thus removing the need to prove that actual marriages had occurred. It was passed in a wave of Victorian-era reaction to the perceived immorality of polygamy, or at least polygyny (one man, more than one wife), which was often compared to slavery. The act not only reinforced the 1862 Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act but also revoked polygamists’ right to vote, made them ineligible for jury service, and prohibited them from holding political office.

The Edmunds–Tucker Act was passed in response to the dispute between the United States Congress and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) regarding polygamy. The act disincorporated both the LDS Church and the Perpetual Emigration Fund on the grounds that they fostered polygamy. It dissolved the corporation of the church and directed the confiscation by the federal government of all church properties valued over a limit of $50,000. The act was repealed in 1978.
The LDS Church banned the practice of polygamy in 1904.

Weights and Measures
The U.S. National Bureau of Standards became effective in 1901. It had been established under an Act of Congress (31 Stat. 1449) approved 3 Mar 1901 that expanded the functions of the Office of Standard Weights and Measures, previously part of the Coast and Geodetic Survey. Its duties included the custody of the standards; comparison of standards; construction of standards; testing and calibration of standard measuring apparatus; and determination of physical constants and the properties of materials which are of great importance to scientific or manufacturing interests. The Bureau became the National Institute of Standards and Technology (N.I.S.T) in 1988.

SOS was adopted as the international distress signal on July 1, 1908.

ZIP codes (Zoning Improvement Plan) were introduced for United States mail in 1963.

Tidbits of History, The month of July

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The month of July is the seventh month in the Gregorian calendar; it was named for Julius Caesar, the Roman who reformed the calendar in 44 B.C.

July is an important month in the United States because of July 4, the birthday of the nation. It was in 1776, that the Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, adopted the Declaration of Independence. Independence Day is now a legal holiday for all Americans. The United States Independence Day is also observed with ceremonies in England, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Guatemala, the Phillippines, Canal Zone, and Guam and at all American embassies in foreign lands.

This is one of the most important months for bullfights and the continuance of old customs. An example is the Fiesta de San Fermen at Pamplona in Spain, which is dangerously exciting because the bulls are still allowed to run wild on the streets just before the bullfights, as they did in olden times.

Japan also observes an ancient July Festival associated with four-footed animals. This is a Japanese horse festival that has been held for over six hundred years. It lasts for three days, during which a thousand horsemen clad in ancient armor and helmets joust and compete in archery and horsemanship.

…from Gregory, Ruth W. Anniversaries and Holidays, Third Edition;. Chicago: American Library Association, 1975.

The Water Lily, flower for the monthwater lily and the larkspur, flower for the month of Julylarkspur or delphinium are the flowers for this month, and the ruby (which symbolizes contentment) is the birthstone. The Zodiac signs for the month include Cancer (until July 21) and Leo (July 22 onward).

Holidays in the month

The month is celebrated as:
National Blueberry Month
National Anti-Boredom Month
Unlucky Month for weddings
National Cell Phone Courtesy Month
National Hot Dog Month
National Ice Cream Month
National Baked Bean Month
National Culinary Arts Month
National Picnic Month
National Pickle Month
Dog days begin early in the month when the hot sultry weather of summer usually starts.

Idaho celebrates its statehood on July 3rd.
Wyoming became a state on July 10.
New York became a state July 26th.

Tidbits of History, June 30

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June 30 is Meteor Day
Don’t Sing in the Shower Day – Alfred Hitchcock’s movie “Psycho” premiered on June 30, 1960.
Go for a Stroll Downtown Day
National Ice Cream Soda Day
National Mai Tai Day

An Act on 1 Oct 1890 reserved additional areas of forest land in California, and created Yosemite National Park under the control of the Secretary of the Interior.

Garfield's Assassin hung, June 301882 – Charles J. Guiteau was hanged in Washington, D.C. for the assassination of U.S. President James Garfield.

1905 – Albert Einstein published the article On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, in which he introduces special relativity.

A meteor explosion in Siberia on June 30, 1908 knocked down trees in a 40-mile radius and struck people unconscious some 40 miles away.

Taft nominated Chief Justice June 301921 – U.S. President Warren G. Harding appointed former President William Howard Taft as Chief Justice of the United States.
When asked about his time on the Supreme Court and as President, Chief Justice Taft allegedly remarked, “I don’t remember that I ever was President.”

1934 – The Night of the Long Knives, Adolf Hitler’s violent purge of his political rivals in Germany, took place.

Margaret Mitchell’s book, “Gone with the Wind,” was published in 1936.

1953 – The first Chevrolet Corvette rolled off the assembly line in Flint, Michigan. It sold for $3,250.

1962 – Los Angeles Dodger Sandy Koufax pitched his first no-hitter in a game with the New York Mets.

RiverfrontStadium opens June 301970 – The Cincinnati Reds moved to their new home at Riverfront Stadium. It was the first stadium to have its entire surface covered by AstroTurf.

1971 – Ohio ratified the 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, reducing the voting age to 18, thereby putting the amendment into effect.

The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of age.

Russian ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov defected in Toronto, Canada in 1974.

1986 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Bowers v. Hardwick that states can outlaw homosexual acts between consenting adults. Seventeen years after Bowers v. Hardwick, the Supreme Court directly overruled its decision in Lawrence v. Texas, and held that anti-sodomy laws are unconstitutional.

Loonie introduced June 301987 – The Royal Canadian Mint introduced the $1 coin, known as the Loonie.

1994 – The U.S. Figure Skating Association stripped Tonya Harding of the 1994 national championship and banned her from the organization for life for an attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan.

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